Say Yes
by Marie Pearle
Summary: It was just like Ichigo to surprise her when she least expected it.
1. The engagement

"Let's get married."

It was sudden, it was random, it was... it was so very Ichigo. Rukia had only been standing in her office sorting some old papers when her captain trudged in with a slight panicky expression on his face.

Ichigo had moved to the Soul Society not long after the end of the war. He had barely turned 18 then- and now, almost two years later, he was both her boyfriend and her captain.

Boyfriend.. she wasn't sure if that was even the right word for him. They'd gone out on dates, sure, but... boyfriend just didn't seem like the right word. The way she saw it, they'd gone from being important friends to seeing each other as their significant other without really ever talking about it. It had just happened, naturally, along with Ichigo becoming a captain and every other way life had changed in the past 2 years.

Still. Even if they HAD gone out together many, many times.. were each other's support- especially from Rukia's side, who'd been Ichigo's right-hand and biggest source of support for his move- never discussing just what their relationship was and suddenly coming to her and asking for marriage was... something.

He'd walked into her office to find her standing next to her open filing cabinet, looking both childish and mature in his captain robe- was it possible to be both at the same time?- and grabbed her shoulders gently, making her look up from the papers in her hand in surprise, and with a furiously determined expression, declared, "Rukia, will you marry me?"

She'd looked up at him in confusion when he'd barged in and grabbed her shoulders suddenly, but when he said those words, her regular expression changed to shock. "...-What?!"

"Rukia," he repeated, smiling at her like this was totally normal, "Will you marry me?"

She stared at him, "What... what brought this on? Have you put any thought into this? This is very random of you, Ichigo.."

"..Of course I have.." his voice grew soft as her drew her closer to him, his hands sliding down from her shoulders to the sides of her arms, "I- we suit each other Rukia.. I know we never really discussed it but we've always had an understanding.." he paused, "You're right, this IS sudden but.. I'm sorry, I had to work up the courage to say anything to you. So then... will you?"

Rukia looked at him. He looked worried, like he was afraid she'd say no. Something about that made her smile, and she shook her head lightly, chuckling, "Yes Ichigo, ok. I accept your proposal."

His face brightened immediately, "Really?! That's- I'm-" he grinned at her, his hand reaching up and touching her cheek gently, "Thank you, Rukia."

She shook her head again, smiling, "So how soon do you want us to get married?"

"In a month?" Ichigo replied, watching her expression to see her reaction as he added hastily, "I can have everything planned in a month- the only thing you need to worry about is getting a dress, I can handle everything else."

Rukia inhaled slowly, as if processing what he was saying. Part of her said this was way too fast, that they needed time to sort things out and plan out things, but.. another part of her, a bigger part, said to give the green light. Things would surely work out in the end, regardless of having plans or not.. and in the end, it didn't matter anyway, she decided as she looked at her boyf- fiance's face. She would be fine with not having a party or a wedding at all, and merely signing some papers and moving into a house together.

It didn't really matter, as long as she and Ichigo would be together, in the end. And with that thought, Rukia nodded slowly, "Okay. I'm fine with it. Let's do it."

He grinned and pulled her close, "Why do I feel like this has happened before? Ah-!" He looked at her in surprise, "Look at me! I came to you and asked you to marry me, but I didn't even bring a ring for you." His expression was guilty as he looked around hurriedly, going to her desk as she watched in confusion.

Ichigo grabbed a silver paperclip from her desk, unbending and straightening the wire, he twisted it into a ring shape and turned back to her, blushing now. "Rukia, I'm- I'm really sorry... can you consider this a place holder until I get you an engagement ring?" he took her hand gently, sliding it on to her finger.

She smiled lightly, staring down at her smaller hand held gently in his before looking up at him, "This is enough for me Ichigo. You don't have to get me an engagement ring, just give me a ring at our wedding instead. I'd rather wear just one than two."

"Are you sure?" he looked at her quizzically before jumping suddenly, "Oh, crap! I forgot I had a meeting to attend!" he rushed towards the door, paused, and rushed back to her, hugging her quickly, "I'll see you later okay?"

"Yeah." she replied, smiling lightly as she watched him rush off before sighing and turning to her work again. "Time to make some calls.."

The coming month was going to be a whirlwind.


	2. The wedding

The wedding, just as "planned", occurred a little over a month after Ichigo's surprise proposal. It was a beautiful day- easy weather, sunshine, fluffy white clouds- that sort of day.

During the time between the engagement and the wedding, Rukia hadn't really seen much of Ichigo outside of work. The month had gone by as a blur, a whirlwind of plans and to-do lists.

In the end, the decision of where to have the signing and whatnot was decided to be in the Kuchiki manor, with the reception being in a hall Isshin had rented, in the living world directly after. Both Ichigo and Rukia had found it to be pointless to do it any other place- the Kuchiki manor was more than big enough, it was convenient, it was just the best option.

And so it was here that Rukia found herself, sitting on a bunch of fluffy pillows the floor in one of the large, clean rooms of the manor, draped in rich white wedding robe. It was incredibly beautiful in her opinion, pure white fabric with tiny- what appeared to be- crystals stitched in here in there to create soft, flowering patterns that glinted in the light when she moved, like diamonds. Her makeup was minimal, the only obvious splash of color being the crimson red of her lips, a tiny silk pouch matching her dress in her hands.

Surrounding her was the many women who had been invited to this day, including Ichigo's sisters, and Kuukaku-san. A sliding door that connected the room to another large room was open, and in that room were all of the male guests, including her soon to be husband, whom she couldn't see.

She'd already signed the married contract, the elderly man who had been conducting the Kuchiki clan's marriage ceremonies since forever guiding her and having her repeat the lines of "I do" after her. He'd then congratulated her by patting her head gently with his old, frail hand, and then going to the men's side while all of the female guests crowded around her in congratulations.

It grew quiet then, and Rukia knew it was because it was Ichigo's turn for the signing. She could hear the elderly man's voice quite clearly, and Ichigo's after.

Ichigo was nervous. So, so nervous. Everything was perfect- every detail, from the venue to the food all the way down to his hair, which was combed neatly for once- he'd made sure over and over that everything would be perfect. He wanted Rukia to have a perfect wedding, and it was.

So why was he so nervous? His cheeks had a permanent blush ever since he'd started greeting all of the guests who were here for the occasion, and the butterflies in his stomach had been relentless. He was also glad that he'd hired Keigo to take wedding photos (as Kiego had become a professional photographer and worked for a company who did wedding shoots) because when Rukia had been signing their marriage contract and saying I do in the other room, he'd been so nervous the only thing he'd registered was her voice saying yes.

And now it was his turn, as he watched the elderly man come from the entrance of the room to sit next to him.

The elderly man fixed his glasses and opened a folder containing the contract, placing it in front of Ichigo along with a pen. Ichigo noticed Rukia's neat signature on it, which he would have smiled at, had he not been so nervous in the moment.

"Do you," The elderly man began in his scraggly but kind voice, "Kurosaki Ichigo, son of Shiba Isshin and the late Kurosaki Masaki, accept Kuchiki Rukia, adopted sister of Clan Leader Kuchiki Byakuya, of the Kuchiki clan, as your wife, with a four-witness group of Sado Yasutora, Renji Abarai, Uryu Ishida, and Mizuiro Kojima? If you agree, say yes-"

"Yes." Ichigo's answer came all-too-eagerly, earning chuckles from the guests, including his father and Ganju, who sat at his side, as well as Uryu, Chad, Mizuiro, and Renji, who were the guests sitting directly in front of them.

"Sign here, please." The elderly man picked up the pen for him, pointing to the places where he should sign. Finally, the man took the pen and signed the paper himself, before closing the folder. "This marriage is now complete and valid. Congratulations." He took Ichigo's nervous, sweating hand in his frail, wrinkled one, and in the moment Ichigo felt a sort of comfort.

Everyone stood off the floors now, coming forward to congratulate him. Renji slapped him on the back, Mizuiro grinned at him, Keigo's camera flashes nearly blinded him, Chad gave him a thumbs up, Uryu shook his hands, Byakuya- Byakuya! shook his hand as well, his expression slightly warmer than usual. And Isshin, who had been acting surprisingly mature and calm during this entire occasion, came forward and embraced his son for a long moment, before saying softly in his ear, "Your mother would be so proud of you."

Ichigo felt his throat ache at the words.

It was then that he turned, in the direction of the entrance of the opened sliding doors that connected this room to the next one, the one that all of the women and Rukia were in. He walked forward a bit, and it seemed that a path was suddenly split in front of him, people moving to the sides, until he saw her.

There she was, his wife, his Rukia, standing there in the middle of the room. She wasn't facing him- her face was turned the other way, as she was talking to Yuzu, but then, she turned.

Their eyes met, and Rukia blinked at him for a moment before completely turning in his direction, an easy smile spreading on her face.

She didn't look nervous at all. In fact, she looked so calm, it was as if she were taking a walk in the park, rather than attending her own wedding. And her smile, oh, bless her smile- beautiful, easy, kind, not a hint of nervousness or fear or shyness in it. She was smiling at him.

He was so glad she wasn't nervous.

And, before he even realized it, he was walking towards her. Slowly at first, but then rushing, his arms reaching out as he finally reached her, enveloping her in a tight hug, his arms going around her shoulders, his face pressed into her neck and the soft, sweet-smelling fabric of her dress.

His mind didn't really register anything else, so he was immune to the laughter, cooing and sighing from the guests, who now surrounded them completely, many with their phones out, taking pictures. His eyes grew wet as his father's words ran through his head again, and he seemed to press against Rukia even tighter. He felt Rukia's small hands on his back, rubbing soothing circles in it, like she knew what he was thinking, how he was feeling. She knew all of it.

He finally let go after a few moment, taking Rukia's face in his hands gently (was it his hands that were big, or was her face just small?) and kissing her forehead, trying very hard to ignore everyone surrounding them- he could even see both Yuzu and Karin taking photos with their phones, both of them looking all too pleased in their own ways. It was then that he took a little drawstring pouch from his robe, opening it and taking out her ring. He reached down, taking Rukia's hand in his and gently sliding the ring onto the ring finger of her left hand, before raising it up more and pressing a kiss against the back of her hand, his eyes staring into hers as he did so.

It was a simple ring, a thin, white-gold band with a rather large, circle-cut diamond. There were several gasps from the crowd again as he let go of her hand and she pulled it back gently to look at her ring in happiness, Rangiku-san coming forward and grabbing Rukia's hand gently, "That is GORGEOUS! It has to be at least 3 karats! Am I right?" she glanced at Ichigo, who nodded shyly, "It's four karats.."

"It's beautiful," Rukia said softly, staring at her hand in awe for a few moments before taking a ring from her little silk purse, sliding onto Ichigo's left hand. It was much simpler than hers was, void of any stones or colors, it was simply a thin, silver band- the type Ichigo had wanted, as he wasn't too into having anything flashy or heavy on his hands.

Ichigo watched as she did it, and once she did, he felt his eyes grow wet again- damn it!- and he moved forward, kissing her cool cheek. Rukia's hand rested on his shoulder, and he moved from her face, hugging her again, causing them to turn slightly as Rukia- and many other guests- chuckled in response. Rukia could hear someone in the background joke that her ring was so sparkly it was hurting their eyes.

Byakuya opened a senkaimon, so that everyone could go to the living world, for the reception. The young couple watched as they went, and Rukia said softly, "...We're married, Ichigo."

"Yeah," he replied softly, squeezing her hand and turning to look at her just as she looked up at him.

He learned forward and kissed her gently.


	3. The wedding night

It was quite late when Ichigo and Rukia arrived to the place where they would be spending their first night- and, later on, the rest of their lives. It was a fairly large house, consisting of 6 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms, and was built to be not too far away from the Kuchiki manor. Ichigo had bought this house as soon as he had saved enough for it. It was a smart investment- he'd needed a house anyway, and figured that if he wanted a family in the future or if his family or friends came to visit, he might as well get one that could fit enough people.

It was a beautiful, simply designed house, and Ichigo had kept it clean. Although right now, every other inch of it was covered in red roses- vases of them here and there. Rukia had moved most of her things in already, but stepping in and suddenly seeing so many of the red flowers surprised her.

It wasn't until they went up the staircase to the master bedroom that Rukia's jaw dropped, when Ichigo opened the door. "Oh..."

"Y-Yeah," Ichigo ran a hand through his hair lightly, "Yuzu and Karin said I should decorate.. I wasn't too sure of to do but I tried my best.."

The master bedroom was dimly lit by a string of twinkling gold fairy lights that had been woven in between drapes of red chiffon fabric that hung from the king sized canopy bed- which, Rukia could recall, had been void of any drapes or curtains up until she'd last seen it 3 days ago. A vase of lush, red roses sat on each nightstand table, and the fragrance of them wafted through the cool night air that swept in a breeze from the open window.

She was brought out of her little trance when she felt Ichigo touch her arm gently. She looked at him to find him regarding her with a gentle expression, "You must be tired. Why don't you go change? I'll use the bathroom down the hall," he stated, implying that she should use the master bathroom.

Rukia nodded quickly, blushing lightly, "Yeah, that's.. okay," and hurriedly gathered some of her things, going to the bathroom and closing the door behind her.

Ichigo couldn't help but simply stand there for a moment, his mouth twitching in a smile- he really couldn't believe any of this was happening- that that he and Rukia were married and that this was their _wedding night-_ before gathering his nightwear and leaving the room.

* * *

When Ichigo returned to the bedroom, rubbing his damp hair with a towel- he'd taken a shower, not wanting to gross Rukia out by sleeping next to her all sweaty from being so nervous earlier- he'd walked in, closed the door behind her, and stopped in shock.

There sat Rukia at the vanity table he'd bought for her to use in their bedroom, running a comb through her hair, her petite, lithe body clad in a tiny, soft pink colored night dress, her smooth, pale legs crossed elegantly. Her back was to him, and if she'd noticed he had returned, she'd made no acknowledgement of it. Ichigo took those few moments to stare at her, all smooth, flawless skin, delicate silk, and glossy, dark hair. It made something deep in Ichigo ache. He wanted to touch it- touch her. Feel the way that silken fabric would slip through his fingers. Or the way her skin would heat under his fingertips, under his mouth. How her hands would feel gripping his shoulders or his chest or his waist. How her lips and her body and her skin would feel when she was pressed up against him.

She stood up then and stretched lightly, ever so innocently, and Ichigo's jaw dropped, his heart skipping a beat. The little silk number she wore barely reached mid-thigh and had an inch-long slit on each side, the top secured to her shoulders by two thin straps. He knew she was oblivious in the moment but part of him couldn't help but think that she was really wishing to torture him with how stunning she looked.

Rukia turned then, blinking in surprise to seeing Ichigo standing there staring at her as if he'd had a stroke. "Ichi..?"

She didn't get to finish her sentence as Ichigo's large hand reached out and held the side of her face, guiding her close to him. His eyes locked on hers, Rukia could see nothing but seriousness, love, and a hint of- was that lust?- in his eyes, and he said, "You look beautiful, Rukia."

She blushed, and her eyes sank shut as his lips met hers in a deep kiss. They remained like that for a few moments, Rukia's small hands moving up to rest on his chest. Ichigo broke the kiss and moved them to sit on the edge of the bed, where his hands gripped her waist and his head tilted forward, pressing a wet, open-mouthed kiss on her neck. Rukia's head lolled to the side and she sighed. "Oh _Ichigo._. this is what I dreamed of. Making love to my husband, in our room, in our house.."

"Mm..?" his voice was muffled as he was speaking with his mouth still against her skin, making her shiver, "And am I your husband in that dream...?"

Rukia blinked as he raised himself, his eyes locking hers as he leaned close with a mischievous, overly pleased and yet somehow innocent grin on his face, his lips inches from hers.

His grin grew even wider as Rukia blushed deeply and he grabbed her waist, her hands moving from his shoulders to come around his neck as she questioned jovially, "What's so funny?"

Ichigo chuckled and pulled her to let them fall sideways onto the bed.


End file.
